THIS ARTICLE DEALS WITH TRIBULATION RISING:the series

Dealing with several quotes from the earliest pages starting with page 16 in their paper. This paper is extensive and will require additional articles: The Case for the Pre-Trib Rapture, Part One – The Shemitah, by

Richard Kendrick Jr.

Again, I would encourage you to read this entire paper. You may want to do that as I bring up the issues within it. That way you can be sure that I am fairly treating their material.

Let’s begin:

“This project deals with seldom understood principles behind the rapture. These principles tell us what the rapture is, the feast in which it occurs, and why there is no possibility outside of the pre-trib rapture.

The rapture is viewed by many believers as nothing more than a minor event of little significance. Sadly, this is true among many in the pre-trib camp itself. Likewise, the treatment of the rapture is even worse among those that claim, mid-trib, post-trib, and pre-wrath points of view. In their eyes, the rapture is a secondary event in occurrence and importance – after the rise of the Antichrist! In other words, they place more prominence and importance on Satan than the Blessed Hope of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

What does this say to the world about Jesus Christ?”

Any of you who regularly read my posts or who might have read my books, will know that what is said here is far from being true of my involvement and emphasis on this topic. So I will not defend myself I will just leave that to the work and God’s word itself.

Kendrick goes on:

“Imagine how it must look to outsiders when they see those that are supposed to have Christ spending all of their time and energy concentrating on an enemy that is supposedly already defeated. Yet, that is exactly what these positions hold.”

I believe this to be an unjustified reaction by Mr. Kendrick to others attempts to find the truth of the Word on this important Biblical topic.

Let’s allow him to continue.

The rapture is the single greatest event in all of history, outside of salvation. Yes, this includes the tribulation, the Second Coming, and the millennial reign of Christ. Here is why. First and foremost, it is the most direct fulfillment of this scripture:

Hebrews 11:1 King James Version (KJV):

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The rapture is about faith. Not the faith that so many try to substitute, but the full and abiding “holding fast” to something that we have no earthly reason to believe. “

Let me stop him here. Notice, he has left the resurrection completely out of his argument here, yet the Rapture only occurs as a result of saved humans being left on earth at the time of our real blessed hope, which of course is the first Resurrection itself. If we miss the first resurrection having received the knowledge of truth we then have no hope. Read Hebrews 10:19-39. Kendrick says that we “hold fast” here “to something that we have no earthly reason to believe”.

Listen to these his words:

“We have no reason to believe, as the rapture comes at a time when there is no evidence for its coming.”

This my brothers and sisters is the only reason that I contend with the pre-Trib school of thinking, because there is very solid Scriptural support for a different time for the Rapture than what they teach. Kendrick here admits that they have no reason for this belief — his entire effort is to try to make us believe that this is a faith mission. But faith is not blind. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The whole problem here is that there is no statement coming from the Scriptures for the pre-Trib resurrection and Rapture. He therefore is asking us to blindly accept something that is not taught in scripture. These who speculate about these things ask us to join them while claiming literal interpretation and accusing us of not having faith.

He continues:

“Here is what I mean.

Obviously, we can look to the times before us and surmise that the rapture is at hand. However, what we see happening is NOT a sign of the rapture. It is a sign of the tribulation. The rapture is understood to be at the door because the Bible sets its timing to the moments before the start of the tribulation. “

Sorry but He is wrong again. The signs are not for the Tribulation, the signs are for the second coming. The Tribulation is one of those signs.

My question then has to be let us see the Scriptural references for that proof that you have all but admitted above is not there. I have given scriptures proof throughout this blog to show the timing of the Resurrection and Rapture to be at the Second Coming of Messiah to earth.

Since, the time I became a new and committed Believer in Jesus as my personal Savior some 50 years ago, I have sought for just such evidence of Christ’s Coming for His people before these signs occur. That would make His Coming imminent and before Tribulation. I did this because I was raised on a pre-Trib understanding of this event. I over the years while searching the scriptures have only found the Rapture following the Tribulation to be true to scripture. Why have I concluded this? — one reason is because writers like Kendrick have promised me the Scriptural proof, but never deliver. They only present arguments against what scripture actually says.

Kendrick goes on:

“That is also the point. And, when we see these things coming to pass, and we know the tribulation is at hand, where will our eyes rest? Will they rest upon the soon return of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Will they rest on the Blessed Hope, to the forsaking of all fears?”

His questions are spiritual and philosophical, and they deal with the condition of the soul of the believer, rather than presenting scripture to support the Raptures timing. They deal with things that have nothing to do with the Raptures timing. So I will ask a similar question. If one is taught that he will escape trouble, and is therefore not prepared mentally and spiritually for it when it comes will not fear be an even greater problem, faith will very possibly be shattered , because it was based on a false premise that failed.

Further On p 23. Of this 154 page document there is an attempt to determine ones faith based on wether or not one believes in the pre-Trib rapture. The thought put forward is that anyone looking for the Tribulation is living in fear and peeping for this time.

This then is followed by:

“It is the complete and total wrath of God. It cannot be prepared for. It cannot be mitigated. It cannot be stopped. It is His wrath, and it is reserved for His enemies. If you find yourself in the tribulation, it means that you missed the one and only thing you actually could have done. . .

Read my article on God’s wrath. Kendrick is mistaken. Orge Greek word for wrath that we are promised to escape is not seen throughout the Tribulation. It is only seen in association with the Lords appearing.

So, what is the only thing that we actually could have done? It’s not to love and totally depend on Jesus’s finished work on Calvary and His in dwelling Holy Spirit to get us through this life; but according to Kendrick instead, it is to look for Jesus to come and Rapture you away from this time of distress on the earth, which God has planned for the culmination of this age.

Now from page 24 we here:

“ …specifically the pre-trib rapture….is more than a faith-based event. It is the key piece to the fulfillment of a number of events taken from the Old Testament. Stated differently, without the pre-trib rapture there can be no fulfillment or completion of the Law of Moses.”

Following is his proof:

“…From the rapture to the Second Coming there must be a total of eight days, or eight years in order to fulfill the Law of Moses. More specifically, there must be a minimum total of ten days (Ten Days of Awe) from rapture to judgment with the rapture being the first day (Feast of Trumpets) and the judgment being the tenth day (Day of Atonement). That leaves a total of eight days, or eight years that must be fulfilled between the rapture and the Second Coming.”

What He is saying here actually contains some truth, but as with most of his efforts to prove the pre-Trib Rapture He is only partially correct. Jesus will fulfill all of the fall feasts when He returns the second time. But it will be done just as He fulfilled each of the spring feasts. They were all fulfilled on the exact feast days in the exact same year — the last calendar year of His earthly ministry. His second coming will see the same happen. Each feast will be addressed by Him on the exact feast day of the very year of His coming. In order to understand how this will progress you should read my post titled: The Fall Feasts and The Coming of Messiah (aug. 11,2017). There is no reason to expect that a day is equal to a year concerning these feasts, since the pattern was already set with Jesus first coming. The feasts in the Old Testament occurred on a set schedule in the same year each year. The fall feasts would occur each and every fall and in fact are celebrated in Israel on these appointed days today as they were then.

To a pre-Trib Scholar “Z” is a straight line and there is no reasoning with them. They fail to see that our lineage is a straight line to Abraham. They attempt to remove the New Covenant from Israel and make it a Covenant for the Gentiles, and in so doing they attempt to keep Israel locked away in the Old Covenant. Yet Paul says that as recipients of the covenants we are now one with them. The New Covenant is also theirs.

There is no way that a Jew will ever be saved apart from this New Covenant which was brought down to them and us through their Messiah and ours. You may also want to read:

Related Articles on this site:

THE ANCIENT JEWISH WEDDING — how does it effect prophecy? (Jun. 12, 2017

The Gentile and The Jew (In Messiah) — Are we one or are we not? (A debate). May 30, 2017